Walmart Family Mobile launched as a prepaid mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using T-Mobile’s network way back in 2010. Now, six years later, it’s got a new owner.

T-Mobile has confirmed that it’s sold Walmart Family Mobile to TracFone. Terms of the deal weren’t given.

Navigating to the Terms & Conditions page on Walmart Family Mobile’s site confirms the deal, too. The second sentence on the page reads “Your agreement for wireless service branded as ‘Walmart Family Mobile Powered by T-Mobile’ is with TracFone Wireless, Inc.”

While there’s no mention of GoSmart Mobile in T-Mobile’s confirmation today, Prepaid Phone News recently discovered that GoSmart’s T&C page includes the same sentence: “Your agreement for wireless service branded as “GoSmart Mobile Powered by T-Mobile” is with TracFone Wireless, Inc.” Both Walmart Family Mobile and GoSmart’s T&C pages say that these terms took effect on September 1.

These services are still running on T-Mobile’s network, they’ve just been added to TracFone’s roster of brands that also includes StraightTalk, Net10 Wireless, Simple Mobile, and more. TracFone is the largest MVNO in the US, and now it’s getting even larger by adding Walmart Family Mobile, which is said to have around 1.4 million customers.

Some dumbass on my job was telling people that Metro bought out Tmobile, I didn’t say anything,he was one those he thinks he knows everything,I just say to myself ok sure. LoL

Sabrina Keyhani

I’m going to assume you work for T-Mobile, too? Yeah, not sure why people are questioning who owns what. In my case, like you, I think, you work for the “parent” company (T-Mobile), so, we have no doubts whom the owners are of Metro, but, the same answers are easily, enough discovered with a Google search, as I did, just to make sure the answers were easy to find. Metro holds 25% of TMO stock, whereas, T-MO owns all of Metro PCS.

Bklynman

No I don’t work for Tmobile. Do you?

wright1bby

Here is how the deal went down….
The terms of the merger are unusual: technically, MetroPCS is acquiring T-Mobile in a reverse acquisition. MetroPCS will declare a 2-for-1 reverse stock split, pay $1.5 billion to its existing shareholders (a bit over $4 per share), and then buy all of T-Mobile’s capital stock by giving Deutsche Telekom 74 percent of MetroPCS. In the end, Deutsche Telekom winds up the majority owner of MetroPCS

The company also chose at that time to quit using the name MetroPCS as the parent company’s name and change it to T-Mobile.
This was done in this convoluted way to take advantage of the fact that the “acquiring” company was already public and so the new company would continue to be public as long as MetroPCS was the “buyer”.

wright1bby

The T-Mobile Metro PCS merger was structured as a Reverse Takeover. It is a bit confusing.
The surviving company was technically the already public Metro PCS not the privately controlled T-Mobile. DT was the majority shareholder in the newly merged company (74%) (Metro PCS shareholders received 26% of the shares).
The surviving company changed its stock symbol and name from Metro PCS to T-Mobile and thus the publicly traded T-Mobile was born without going through an IPO like is typically required for a company to become public.
Metro PCS now only still exists as a T-Mobile brand and does not “own” any of T-Mobile, though the public company that was Metro PCS is now the public company T-Mobile.
Clear as mud?

Bklynman

Yes,this has made it as clear as day!!! LoL!

Sabrina Keyhani

Yes, I am proud to say that I DO work for T-Mobile.

Bklynman

Cool,that’s great,hope you do well while working for them,wish you nothing but the best in all areas of your life. Take care.

BreakingData

Didn’t this occur early last month. I feel like I have already heard about this before.

SirStephenH

From above.

“Both Walmart Family Mobile and GoSmart’s T&C pages say that these terms took effect on September 1.”

Ricardo Magallon

Tracphone is owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim seems he wants a huge share of American market now too

Philip

He fail CompUSA.

Mr.Bean

When you want more, you just can’t get enough

Matt

I’m honestly surprised T-Mobile did not convert them into MetroPCS customers. Maybe it was cheaper to sell the book of business.

René Marquardt

So no more buying Walmart Family Mobile phones for less than what T-Mo sells them for and using them with a T-Mo SIM?

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